The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 133-112 on Thursday night with LeBron James scoring 17 points and 11 assists two days before his 39th birthday and Anthony Davis scoring 26 points and eight rebounds.
Since winning the NBA’s first In-Season Tournament almost three weeks ago, the Lakers have won only three games in nine. Rui Hachimura scored 17 and Austin Reaves 16. A 41-point third quarter paced by Hachimura and James, who each scored 12 points, helped Los Angeles pull away from the struggling Hornets.
Los Angeles had a 28-point lead early in the fourth, and coach Darvin Ham rested James and Davis for the last quarter in a rare blowout win for the Lakers, who have just eight double-digit wins all year.
“Guys were playing for each other, playing the right way,” according to Davis, who blocked four shots. “Anytime I’m able to bank some minutes, especially going into a tough back-to-back in Minnesota and New Orleans, it helps us as a team.”
Despite being the NBA’s oldest player, James is still going strong in his 21st season. He spearheaded the third-quarter resurgence and nailed two 3-pointers while quarterbacking for lengthy minutes. Los Angeles had 41 season-high assists.
“It’s always good things that happen when the ball is in his hands,” he said. His readings are fantastic. A gaming student. We benefit whenever we can put the ball in his hands because he’s seen every coverage and made many terrific reads.”
The Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell scored 16 points and nailed four 3-pointers, including his 1,300th. The second-half highlight was Reaves’ behind-the-back motion to beаt Terry Rozier for a layup as Los Angeles raced away.
“I believe that every time we step on the court, we can beаt anybody we play,” he stated. “But just really figuring out what our identity is, in my opinion, the main thing, because we can be so good when we figure that out.”
The Hornets, on their longest skid since late 2014, got 20 points from Miles Bridges and 18 from Rozier. Charlotte stuck with the Lakers in the first half, but LA’s zone defense forced them to lose its second consecutive game in this shared downtown venue to start a six-game trip.
“If we just guarded without fouling, I think we’d be good,” said 17-point rookie Brandon Miller. I believe tonight was about being in the right spots. I screweԀ up some belongings.”
Los Angeles-area native LaMelo Ball missed his 14th straight game because of a sprained left ankle for the Hornets, who must play both LA teams, Phoenix, Denver and Sacramento in eight days on this trip. Charlotte also is missing Gordon Hayward (calf) and big man Mark Williams (back).
“Our guys have worked hard, (but) they know we’re short-handed,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. “This is a tough trip. A lot of times in this league, it’s not just how many injuries you have, but when they come. Unfortunately for us, we’ve had more than our share of injuries, and this is not the time to be short-handed. But we played 41 good minutes the other night (against the Clippers). We were right there. We played about 21 1/2 good minutes tonight. We’ve just got to defend.”
Hachimura started slowly from the field after rejoining the Lakers’ starting lineup in place of Cam Reddish, who sat with a groin ιnjury. But he led the way with James and Davis while the Lakers made 10 of their first 12 shots in the second half and burst to their first double-digit lead of the night.
Los Angeles had its ninth starting lineup combination in 32 games this season. The Lakers were forced to use 39 starting lineups last season, but James and Davis have stayed largely healthy so far this year, missing just five games combined. Coach Darvin Ham said he expects Davis and James to be available for both legs of their upcoming back-to-back road games at Minnesota and New Orleans to close out 2023.